Peel out of Welsh squad

SALE star Dwayne Peel has been ruled out of Wales’ opening Six Nations international against England through injury – but there is a place in the squad for his Edgeley Park colleague Eifion Lewis Roberts. Scrum-half Peel injured his groin towards the end of Sharks’ Heineken Cup defeat at Cardiff Blues and, for now, has been left out of Wales’ 35-man squad by head coach Warren Gatland.

OUT – Dwayne Peel will miss Wales’ Six Nations opener against England with a groin injury.

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SALE star Dwayne Peel has been ruled out of Wales’ opening Six Nations international against England through injury – but there is a place in the squad for his Edgeley Park colleague Eifion Lewis Roberts.

Scrum-half Peel injured his groin towards the end of Sharks’ Heineken Cup defeat at Cardiff Blues and, for now, has been left out of Wales’ 35-man squad by head coach Warren Gatland.

However, his club boss Kingsley Jones last night revealed that a scan indicated the damage was not as serious has had been first feared and that the 28-year-old could be back in action in around a fortnight, though that could stretch to three weeks.

If that is the case, Gatland has hinted that Peel could yet be re-instated, though the player was offered no guarantees.

As regards what many at Sale feel is the long overdue inclusion of Roberts, Jones said: "We’re very happy for Eifion and I feel his inclusion is definitely merited but if he is involved then it could leave us very light on numbers in terms of props during the Six Nations."

The 28 year-old, who has just one cap to his name, was conspicuous by his absence from Wales’ Test squad last Autumn when he came in for criticism over his perceived lack of fitness while the ‘weak’ standards of the Guinness Premiership were also cited for his omission.

However Roberts, who has been in fine form for Sale all season, could now get his chance to prove his worth on the international stage.

But there was an element of damning him with faint praise when Gatland expanded on the factors behind Roberts’ recall.

"I think he’s still got a bit of work to do. We’ve called him in to have a really good look at him and to see what sort of progress he can make working over this campaign," said the New Zealander.

"We’ve set him some goals and targets to reach and I felt for the first half at Cardiff he did scrummage well and put a lot of pressure on the Blues’ front row.

"We feel his call-up is perhaps a reward for some of the work he has done off the field and for us to assess where he is."